The conventional approach to shucking or opening the closed shells of an oyster to access the organism therewithin has been to use one hand to hold the oyster and another hand to hold a knife that is used to separate one shell from the other and, in most cases, to separate the organism from the muscle that fixes it to one of the shells. This is normally achieved by causing the tip of the knife blade to penetrate the weakest point of the unopened oyster which is at the location of the valve, manipulating the position of the knife to separate the upper and lower shells, and then sweeping the blade of the knife along one side of the oyster between the shells to sever the muscle, whereby the oyster is opened and taken to the next stage of its processing. After this process of shucking the oyster, a stream of water is allowed to fall over the hands, knife, and oyster to remove any shell debris or other material that may contaminate the finished product.
Such a process has been found to have problems, not the least of which is that it often results in blisters and other injuries to the worker, thereby decreasing their overall speed of performance and their level of productivity. Blisters and other injuries, such as cuts, may lead to the release of blood from the worker and the blood may contaminate the oyster and render unhygienic the working environment. Furthermore, the use of bench space in such a process also increases the likelihood of poor hygiene.
Not only are there injuries and hygiene factors that need to be considered, but the conventional manual process is also costly. The process has often damaged the finished product and so resulted in a diminished commercial value for the oysters. Water is also wasted in the course of washing away any human blood or debris from a damaged oyster.
It is another problem with the conventional process that it involves repetitive hand movements which can often lead to joint and muscular problems, particularly of the wrist. Repetitive strain injuries are not uncommon among such workers, and there is the risk of a worker's compensation claim being filed.
All of these problems impose a significant cost burden on a business, involved in the shucking of oysters.